| Good morning, happy Saturday, and welcome to the latest edition of the Saints Insider newsletter. Outside of Hurricane Francine's unwelcome arrival, it's been a week of pleasant vibes for the Saints this week. Considering the doom and gloom surrounding the team in the lead up to the season, they will surely take the positive outlook. This week, though, should provide a truer litmus test. In fact, we'll start there. A corner turned? The Saints' 47-10 win against the Carolina Panthers was about as thorough of a dismantling as you'll see in an NFL game. Still, there were plenty of people wondering how real it was afterward. The Panthers, after all, were the worst team in the NFL a year ago. That won't be the case this week. The Dallas Cowboys have been one of the NFL's best (regular season) teams in recent history, and they are loaded up with another talented roster this season. Columnist Rod Walker put it simply: The Saints’ players and coaches may not say it publicly, but they know Dallas isn’t Carolina. The Cowboys are a step up in weight class. Easy buttonsQuarterback is the hardest position to play in sports, period. It's why they are the highest paid players in the NFL by a significant margin. Teams' hopes often hinge on how successful their quarterbacks are on Sundays. That is no different with the Saints. They need a lot out of Derek Carr. And, to get there, they are taking more off his plate. Really, it makes sense. Please let my colleague Matthew Paras walk you through how new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak is trying to get the most out of Carr by stripping some of his responsibilities and "freeing" him to be the best version of himself. Two big questionsTaliese Fuaga missed the last two days of practice this week. Marshon Lattimore didn't practice at all. Both are questionable against the Cowboys this Sunday. Not the two players you want to miss, considering the Cowboys stars (Micah Parsons and CeeDee Lamb) they would potentially match up against. New Orleans did rule two players out, which isn't a surprise: DT Khalen Saunders and LB D'Marco Jackson will both miss Week 2 with their respective injuries. Plenty more to get to over at NOLA.com, and keeping with our regular schedule, our crew hit the podcast studio yesterday to break down the matchup, so please check that out as well. Have a great weekend! Luke Johnson | 
